If you’re not up to date on your cowboy vernacular, it’s time to catch up. “Barking at the knot” is something you’ve definitely done, and it more or less translates to doing something stupid or pointless. Something like fixing your ‘70s Impala that has a blown motor or texting your ex to "just talk." For some snowboarders, that could even look like trying to film a skate part.
That last one might ring true for most, but not for Seamus Foster. His latest love letter to Utah swaps snow for crust in the SLC streets and the result is a buttery smooth, curated skate video. Parker tapped into some backyard pools, Turdlord (Matt Coughlin) brought the heat, and Brophy closed the curtains in spectacular fashion. But once the credits rolled we were left wondering more about the man behind the lens—and how this was different (or similar) from his day job of filming snowboarding. Is it more fun? Is there less pressure? Does his perspective shift? We shot over a few questions, and between Thai food deadlines, back 3 kickflips, and Sharpie-tagged skate spots, Seamus offered up some insight on his most recent skate film.
Featuring: Mitchell McIver, Colin Brophy, Joel Miller, Brandon Sutter, Matt Bernard, Parker Szumowski, Paul Curtis, Joey Sandoval, Austin Squire, Jake Flood, Jeff Griffin, Jed Anderson, Mike Bogdal, Masa Sun, Matt Coughlin, Max Garson, Kevin "Spanky" Long, Devin York, Jeff Richards, and Cole Armstrong
Filmed & Edited by: Seamus Foster
Additional Filming by: Morgan Jennings
Interview by: Matt Norris
Where does the title of the video come from?
Paul Curtis said it one day. He always drops some good one liners, usually like western American frontier phrases, and I was like, Damn, I don’t know what that means but it sounds sick. “Barking at a knot” is an old western idiom for doing something useless, or wasting time.
Some people might not know you film snowboarding professionally. Do you think your perspective or visual style changes between snow and skate?
I think both ultimately boil down to fisheye or long lens haha. I haven’t filmed street snowboarding in a few years now, so backcountry snowboarding and skateboarding have very different approaches. I think angles, use of foreground, run up/run out, etc, all pretty much feels the same. With skating I’m much closer to the action, and with backcountry snowboarding I’m usually really far away using a tripod. With both, I try to frame the feature up where there’s no distractions in the background. I also try really hard to capture personality, and with skating that’s a lot easier to do because I’m physically closer, and they’re not wearing a facemask and goggles.
Are most of the people in the video snowboarders?
Most of ‘em have snowboarded before but Broph, Paul and Mitch go maybe once a year if that. They’re so fun to snowboard with though, I wish we got to ride together more. And then obviously we have Jed, Parker, Blake, and Bogs in there. And Matt Coughlin of course. Snowboard bosses.
Who's the sickest skater/snowboarder right now?
Bogs. or Jake Kuzyk.
What’s it like filming snowboarders who also skate — do you see their snowboard style show up in how they approach spots?
Hard to say but every time I’ve filmed Blake hit a jump snowboarding, he usually lands it first try, and does a trick multiple times until he gets it how he wants it. It’s so impressive. That backtail-shuv however took him maybe over three hours to do [laughs]. I told him that I was trying to get Thai takeout and the restaurant was closing in 20 minutes, and then he landed it just a few tries later. So maybe there is a correlation, like when you hit a backcountry snowboard jump there’s pressure to land it quick so you don’t bomb the landing. And then when the filmer is trying to get Thai takeout and the restaurant closes in 20 minutes, there’s pressure there, too. So…I guess Blake does well under pressure [laughs].
What's more fun to film, skating or snowboarding?
I knew you were gonna ask this. It’s like asking a parent which child they love more. Just kidding, but for real they are just so different to me. Filming skating I’m usually getting sunburnt, cruising around to different spots, filming a ton, talking to homeless people, grabbing a chicken teriyaki bowl, sitting on a curb breathing in brake dust, etc. Filming snowboarding I’m in the mf mountains, smelling trees, worrying about avalanches, shoveling endlessly, sweating one second and then freezing the next, barely even turning my camera on, etc. Maybe the only similarity with both is I’m usually getting sunburnt. Also filming snowboarding is my job, and filming skating is for fun, so the freedom to do whatever I want with no deadline is great.
Do you think anyone is interested in an equal parts snow/skate video? Or should they remain separate?
Most snowboarders skate. Barely any skaters snowboard. I don’t think a snowboarder would mind some skating in a snow vid, but a skater would probably be confused watching snowboarding in a skate vid.
Lots of skate videos are abrasive, but your video has a really smooth flow to it. What was your intention behind the filming and editing of this video?
I pretty much approached it how I would any skate vid. I realized pretty quickly that we were getting some good footage and I really wanted to make a full length, part-based skate video because I hadn’t done that before. It’s cool you say there’s a smooth flow to it because that was something I thought a lot about while editing, just like, how is this person’s part gonna transition to the next person’s part? One thing I did very intentionally was shoot a bunch of 16mm film. I’ve always liked the classic east coast skate videos, like Josh Stewart’s Static videos, that feel like a love letter to their city. 16mm of subways and taxis and all that, it’s very romantic and steezy to me. I made it a goal to do that, but Utah style.
A lot of the spots in the video are (somewhat) relatable to the average skater. Do you think that relatable skating is more inspiring to people than gnarly handrails and gaps these days?
It feels that way for sure. A lot of skate videos in the last few years have been leaning into tasteful tricks and spots more so than the gnarliness factor. We definitely had a lot of fun hunting down new and unique spots around Utah and making them skateable. It’s just more fun and creative than getting gnarly on a handrail or gap. And less scary obviously. Pretty much everyone that’s in the video just enjoys the hunt for the crusty little gems, especially Mitchell.
How the hell did you get Spanky in your video?
Mo Jennings just called me on a Friday night and said Spanky was in town and was down to get some clips, so we went out the next morning and got some street skating done.
Any Matt Coughlin stories from filming?
The ride-on grind up to nose manual to grind down was so sick. I always drive by that thing and one day I actually pulled over and got out of my truck and stared at it. Then I sent a photo to the group chat and was just like, “someone should grind up and then down this or something” and Matt instantly replied. That same day we went and rub bricked it and lacquered it and he did that trick. Around this time there was another squad in SLC skating a lot of the same spots that we had been rub bricking and lacquering and we were tripping on someone doing the same trick and putting it on instagram, so we sharpied on the spot “Matt C. 5050 nose manual 5050” with the date haha. So dumb.
Brophy’s footage was incredible. How long did you film for his section?
I think the first clip I filmed of him for this video was in 2022. We worked on this for a while. Everyone is just busy; full-time jobs, kids, owning businesses and shit. Plus I’m basically gone 5-6 months out of the year filming snowboarding. We just wanted to wait to put it out until it was ready, and that ended up taking a few years.
Can we get a Brophy snow part this year?
We’re gonna try and ride Sundance a bunch this year. I’ve never even been but Broph said it’s sick. I’ll film him on my iphone. They have a sick bar there, too.
What was your favorite moment filming for the vid?
Broph’s backside 360 kickflip over the barrier. I went there a few times over the last month or two before the premiere to try and get it. All together he probably tried it around a thousand times.
Is it true that he filmed it the day before the vid came out?
Yeah, we kept it a secret from everyone, too. The whole squad knew we were going the night before the premiere to give it one last try, but Broph pretended he didn’t get it. It was insanely cool to watch the gang freak the fuck out when that clip played at the premiere. Broph owns that spot, he’s done a lot of crazy tricks over it. It’s a shitty spot, crusty as hell. The bump sucks. I can’t even ollie it. Him landing that was just so awesome. We drank a beer on the curb after and I was like “Ok I need to go home and edit this in like right now.” Had to be the ender-ender.
